Post by Jason Gladu on Jan 12, 2017 23:33:45 GMT -5
A really great article called Grit & Glory on Vintage Guitar.
The drive to succeed – along with certain workaholic tendencies – revealed themselves early in rock guitarist Gilby Clarke. On the brink of becoming a “problem child,” he turned the tide on misfortune after his parents’ marriage fell apart.
Wanting to be closer to family, Clarke’s mother took her children from Cleveland to California, and there, the 16-year-old Gilby turned wholeheartedly to music as a personal comfort and – more vitally – social ice-breaker. Before long, he was bangin’ away with friends in a true garage band, cranking out songs by Kiss, Aerosmith, and other ’70s teen-rocker staples.
In the early 1980s, he landed the guitarist slot in a power-pop band called Candy, which in ’85 recorded Whatever Happened to Fun, then toured with hitmakers Rick Springfield and Corey Hart before Clarke, wanting to play edgier material, departed to form Kill For Thrills, a hard-rock band that recorded an EP and LP of era-flavored tunes.
In ’91, Clarke stepped foot in the big-time when he replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns ’N Roses, whose 1987 album, Appetite For Destruction, is oft-cited for pushing rock and roll back to its roots. Clarke joined the band a week after it had released the twin-album Use Your Illusion effort and toured the world with the band for two years. When the original members decided to reunite, Clarke moved on to focus on a solo career and enjoyed stints with Heart, Nancy Sinatra, and the MC5.
Today, Clarke keeps busy with his solo band and gigging with an all-star/greatest-hits package called Kings of Chaos. He’s also a dedicated family man, having been married to his wife, Daniella, for 22 years; his cred was recently proven when he sold a squeaky-clean ’59 Fender Stratocaster to bolster his daughter’s college fund.
We caught up with Clarke as he put the finishing touches on his eighth solo album, due for release late this year.
ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE
The drive to succeed – along with certain workaholic tendencies – revealed themselves early in rock guitarist Gilby Clarke. On the brink of becoming a “problem child,” he turned the tide on misfortune after his parents’ marriage fell apart.
Wanting to be closer to family, Clarke’s mother took her children from Cleveland to California, and there, the 16-year-old Gilby turned wholeheartedly to music as a personal comfort and – more vitally – social ice-breaker. Before long, he was bangin’ away with friends in a true garage band, cranking out songs by Kiss, Aerosmith, and other ’70s teen-rocker staples.
In the early 1980s, he landed the guitarist slot in a power-pop band called Candy, which in ’85 recorded Whatever Happened to Fun, then toured with hitmakers Rick Springfield and Corey Hart before Clarke, wanting to play edgier material, departed to form Kill For Thrills, a hard-rock band that recorded an EP and LP of era-flavored tunes.
In ’91, Clarke stepped foot in the big-time when he replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns ’N Roses, whose 1987 album, Appetite For Destruction, is oft-cited for pushing rock and roll back to its roots. Clarke joined the band a week after it had released the twin-album Use Your Illusion effort and toured the world with the band for two years. When the original members decided to reunite, Clarke moved on to focus on a solo career and enjoyed stints with Heart, Nancy Sinatra, and the MC5.
Today, Clarke keeps busy with his solo band and gigging with an all-star/greatest-hits package called Kings of Chaos. He’s also a dedicated family man, having been married to his wife, Daniella, for 22 years; his cred was recently proven when he sold a squeaky-clean ’59 Fender Stratocaster to bolster his daughter’s college fund.
We caught up with Clarke as he put the finishing touches on his eighth solo album, due for release late this year.
ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE